Congratulations to the Affton High School Class of 2017, which graduated Saturday and earned a record-breaking $9.3 million in merit-based scholarships — a whopping $3 million MORE than any other graduating class from Affton! Check them out in our Grad Salute in this week’s Mail Call that goes out to every mailbox in Affton! To see more pictures of the graduates, check out the hashtags #afftonstrong and #afftongrads on Facebook and at our Facebook page, facebook.com/callnewspapers.

This week, the Call salutes the Affton graduates as part of our annual Graduate Salute Mail Call issue that goes out to Affton households and businesses. The south county business community has participated in this tradition for years as a way to celebrate graduates’ accomplishments.

The 199 Affton graduates walked across the stage and received their diplomas during an evening ceremony on May 20. Of the class of 2017, 89 percent will attend 48 different colleges and universities, while 4 percent will enroll in schools of advanced training, 2 percent will serve in the military, and 9 percent will enter the workforce.

In this year’s class, 98 students were awarded 267 scholarships, including seven Missouri Bright Flight cholarships, 46 scholarships from the Affton community and 10 athletic scholarships.

The class of 2017 also includes five new inductees to the Affton Wall of Fame.